Remember the August newsletter, the one that opens with the story of my unemployed friend Bob nailing two job offers in one week with a savvy direct mail strategy?
First, the “average Joe” is going to read this and think that this is about resumes.
No, no no. Not at all. The astute reader will recognize that the example applies to ANY business letter. What you’ve got there is a template that applies equally well to a product or service promotion.
Cover letter = sales letter.
Resume = data sheet
Well there are a few developments NOT in the newsletter that you definitely need to know about. The remainder of this report could easily be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to you.
The first one is that, as reported, Bob got 2 job offers after mailing about 400 letters.
He turned down one job and started his first day of work at the other job. But an issue came up just as my newsletter was going to press. The job offer was rescinded on his first day of work. Now he was in a situation with no job AGAIN, having already turned down the other one!
OK. So it’s time to turn on the direct mail machine again.
So he sent out 200 more letters. The phone calls and emails started coming in again. He had a couple of interviews and got ANOTHER job offer. He just started that new job Tuesday of this week.
Nothing like having a SYSTEM for marketing yourself, that you can turn on and off at will.
If this is the only thing you ever do with the tools I give you, it’ll be worth at least $1 million to you over your lifetime.
Well here’s the punch line: The guy who hired him said, “You know Bob, I get unsolicited resumes all the time – hundreds of them – and most of them get thrown in the trash. The only reason I opened yours was that it was hand addressed.”
Powerful lesson there. The power of “A-Pile” mail. You can pay me $10,000 to write a killer direct mail piece, but if it doesn’t get opened, it’s all for naught. Letters and envelopes that are sent out as personal communication, not corporate puffery, work!
Don’t be fooled by the false economy of 3rd class mail, which can easily be tossed in the dumpster at any point along the way. The humble, hand-addressed letter always gets opened and read, and it’s truly a rarity in today’s automated world of overflowing email boxes, faxblasts and overcommunication of everything.
BTW if you’re looking for a mail shop that will handle this for you, email my friend Dave Brady at DatumMKG@aol.com.
Sincerely,
Perry Marshall
P.S.: Punch line #2: Remember the opening paragraph of the cover letter?
“Any business person who has employed other people for any length of time in the state of Illinois has dealt with his fair share of no-shows, lousy attendance records, lame excuses, disappearing office supplies and the constant need to supervise everyone.”
Guess what: The company that hired Bob had just recently had a spate of computer hard drives disappearing from their warehouse, and toilet paper disappearing from the supply closet. They’d just gotten rid of the warehouse manager that very day.
So when El Presidente opened Bob’s letter he almost fell out of his chair.
More proof that what works is not something that vague, general and applicableto- everyone, but specific, focused and razor sharp.
Bob likes his new job, it pays almost 20% more than the job he was fired from, and the company’s vanishing hard drive syndrome has… well, completely vanished.
Don’t be afraid to ask for exactly what you want, because the world will clear a path for you when it sees you know where you are going.
